Pages

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Linking to Landscape

I'm a wanna be landscape artist who never seems to paint landscapes unless they are close up versions of what I see. I'm talking about the sprawling distance that can be captured so well by many artists. I've certainly connected to landscape and landscape artists, but so far it's all just fuel for the old creative juices. One of these days I know something will come out of all this looking and thinking, but as of yet there's nothing that I want to show. On to the artist of the day...

Beached Boats, Mixed media, 14 x 22.5 in.

Harbour Cottages Cornwall, Mixed media , 15 x 19.5in

Devon landscape seems to ignite the imagination of many artists who respond to it in diverse ways. Installment 2 in my Devon landscape series highlights Mike Bernard whose work I also saw at Marine House at Beer for the second time. His collage painting style using paper cuttings attracted me because it uses elements similar to my own technique. Layers and texture immediately draw me in. His paper applications appear to be used to create an overall structure for the composition and then he paints into it using various levels of detail. I enjoy his work that is more abstracted with less colour, where texture and subtle hints tell the story. These quick introduction gives you a sense of his work.

Morning Grand Canal, Venice , Mixed media, 18 x 24 in.

Venetian Doorway, Mixed media, 15 x 17 in.

Venice, my favourite city in the world which is currently being challenged by Prague, also offers great subject matter for his work. If you're interested there's a short YouTube video about this series.

Feeling like getting away from it all to paint? Mike Bernard also offers self catering cottages at Nutcombe and there's a studio. This is news for me. Oh the missed opportunities from my past two visits to Devon. I'm feeling a holiday coming up.....

And last but not least, I've enjoyed reading his book available at Amazon.